Page 83 of Of Blood and Smoke

Ashley met me in the break room for lunch. “Over here,” I said, guiding her to a far table. We usually settled somewhere in the middle when we were able to meet up. It took me a while before I’d realized I’d always chosen an ideal vantage point to sneak glances at Josiah just in case he entered or wandered by. I’d done it subconsciously, a hidden part of me always reaching for him.

“Why are we over here?” she asked, glancing around the room.

It was quieter than usual, maybe only ten people in the space rather than the usual thirty or so. A week had passed since Christina attacked me and I’d been with Micha, mostly, trying to sort through piles of applications for a replacement. Josiah had been busy, hunting for what he called wraiths. It turned out it was one of those ghostly creatures that had touched me when I was handcuffed, and zip tied by Brett.

After I arranged my tray with my chicken sandwich and fruit salad, I took a long drag of my water. I hadn’t been able to drink coffee all week.Thanks, Christina. Luckily, I had no ill effectsfrom the attempted poisoning, just some redness for a few hours from where the hot liquid had met my skin.

“I need to talk to you, and I don’t want anyone to hear. You can’t repeat a word of this.”

Ashley nodded eagerly and leaned in slightly. “Okay. What’s up?” She flicked her curly hair over her shoulder.

I set my fork down. “Christina tried to murder me.”

“What?” she squeaked. “Oh my god is she in jail?”

“No,” I replied, quietly. “She was... fired.” Ashley raised an eyebrow. “We’re trying to find a replacement. Do you know anyone?”

“I’d say Karissa, but she already works here, down in the labs.” She took a spoonful of soup and set her utensil on the edge of the bowl. “Can we talk about how Brett kidnapped you and now he’s missing and then Christina tries to kill you?”

My stomach twisted and a chunk of chicken fell out of my sandwich with a splat. “He’s missing?”

Ashley looked up at me. “Yup.” She picked her spoon back up. “I think your boyfriend got rid of him, hired someone to do it or something.”

She eyed me carefully and I looked down at my plate before picking up the fallen meat. “You know something’s up with him and Micha. They aren’t normal. They have issues,” she continued.

I took a bite of my sandwich as Ashley dipped her spoon in her soup and then tilted the utensil, filling it and then draining it. Over and over.

“Maybe,” I conceded, not meeting her gaze. She seemed more curious than mad, but I wasn’t going to talk about it with her, it wasn’t something the two men advertised. And plus, I wouldn’t even know where to begin with their particular set of “issues.” Either way, I knew her well enough to know something besides curiosity was weighing heavily on her mind.

“You look fine,” she told me. Her spoon clanked against the bowl. “What did Christina do to you?”

Letting out a harsh laugh, I replied, “She poisoned my coffee with oleander.”

“What? Who does that? That’s so creepy-gothic-mystery of her.” Ashley looked fascinated. “I didn’t know people still used that. Heck, I haven’t even heard that ever—except in old books.”

“True. But think about it, where we work. Who knows what they’ve got downstairs? I guess I’m just lucky she didn’t slip fentanyl in my drink because it did get on my skin.”

Ashley clicked on her phone and started typing away. “Oleander symbolizes romance, desire, destiny, and seduction. Wow. Maybe Christina was a witch?”

She turned her screen toward me, showing the search results she’d just read. “Oh geez. Well, that’s crazy. I don’t know if she was. It's possible,” I agreed.

“’Was’?”

I washed down my sandwich with a long slug of water. “She doesn’t work here anymore.”

“Uh-huh.” My friend narrowed her eyes at me and then burst out laughing. All I could do was laugh along with her, relieved she’d let me off the hook and wishing I could say more.

It felt like sheknew, but was dancing around the subject just as much as I. She spent enough time around Micha, that I would think she’d have to. I wanted to ask her about his eyes, if they did the same pretty thing Josiah’s did when his mood was affected in some way, the irises swirling and luminous. But I didn’t, I didn’t want to risk our relationship. She was really all I had for a friend.

“I’m pretty sure the extra work will fall on me. Some of it already has. I’ve only gotten to see my dad once this week. Did I ever tell you Josiah wants me to move in with him?”

Ashley’s eyes almost bugged out of her head. “What! No, you didn’t. Wait, I think you did? I don’t remember. But I knew, Iknew, there was more going on between you two than what you said.”

“Ha ha,” I said. “Yeah, yeah, you called it. It has been for a while now. And no, I’m not moving in with him any time soon. I just got a nice place, I’m not ready to give that up.”

“So, Brett wasn’t that far off. He knew, you know. He swore you were cheating on him.”

Gathering my garbage together on the tray, I said, “Well, it was awkward since he’s my boss and I was very clear with Brett about where we stood, he just couldn’t accept it.”

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